Facility Frequently Asked Questions

Over the years, our Patient Care Center has spoken with many of our facilities, patients and their families. Here are answers to the most Frequently Asked Questions about our OHM® Program and how it works.

A: Nurses provide overall care for the residents, but are not specially trained in audiology, dental, optometry or podiatric care. Our team of professionals is highly skilled and equipped to handle the various needs of the long-term care population.

A: The PrevMED Dental program is available to all nursing home residents. For those eligible for Medicaid the program is fully reimbursed via a liability reduction resulting in no additional expense to the resident, responsible party or nursing home.

A: Every facility will have an assigned health care team. Certain types of care can only be administered by appropriately licensed professionals, in which case he/she would be scheduled to provide that particular service.

A: Dentures harbor bacteria, plus tartar buildup may cause the dentures to become ill-fitting. Brushing alone is not effective in removing bacteria and tartar. PrevMED provides professional denture cleanings, repair and maintenance of existing dentures and will replace them as needed.

A: Nursing facility residents often cannot care for their teeth as well as they did when they were younger. This can be due to cognitive or physical limitations they may not have had prior to entering the nursing facility. Because of this they are unable to thoroughly remove the daily plaque and tartar buildup, which causes infection and inflammation if left unchecked. The residents do receive some oral hygiene (tooth brushing) between our visits, but it is administered by non-dental personnel, which results in bacteria-producing plaque and tartar being left behind. Our dental team provides a thorough cleaning during each visit, using dental instruments and medicinal products.

A: The frequency of visits is based on the type of services the patient needs. Some services such as dental may be on a monthly basis, other services, such as audiology, may be as needed or at least quarterly.